Uber and WeRide Launch Fully Driverless Rides in Abu Dhabi
Waymo is cleared for more autonomous driving in California, Pony.ai partners with Bolt in Europe, and why Tesla can’t legally sell the Cybercab yet
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Top Story of the Week
Uber Robotaxi Partner WeRide Goes Driverless on Abu Dhabi Island (link, no paywall). Riders who request UberX or Uber Comfort within the 12-square-mile zone may now be matched with a WeRide GXR robotaxi, a purpose-built five-seat AV designed for commercial ridehail.
Uber says it currently manages “dozens” of WeRide robotaxis in Abu Dhabi, with plans to expand the fleet over time.
Riders can also select the “Autonomous” option to increase their chances of getting a robotaxi. The driverless service is limited to Yas Island for now. Trips to the airport, highways, and other islands in the city will continue using WeRide vehicles with safety drivers.
Abu Dhabi is now the first city outside the U.S. where Uber offers fully driverless robotaxi rides and the first such deployment in the Middle East.
Other Stuff
Waymo officially authorized to drive fully autonomously across more of the Golden State (link).
GreenMobility and Tensor to deploy 2,000 autonomous car sharing vehicles in Denmark (link).
Bolt partners with China’s Pony.ai as robotaxi push accelerates in Europe (link).
Waymo given deadline to halt charging operations in Santa Monica (link). The order targets two charging lots at 1222 Broadway and 1310 Broadway, which the city says have created late-night noise issues. I can’t blame residents here since these two lots are uniquely located right in the heart of Santa Monica and they do seem to be causing a lot of chaos (link). Real estate is also expensive here so it may make sense to put future depots in more industrial areas. Waymo’s other main location in LA is managed by Terawatt and located in a commercial area, and close to LAX, SoFi Stadium and a number of other major hot spots. The nice thing about Terawatt’s location is that Waymo vehicles will frequently get trips to nearby destinations so you don’t need to make a huge detour to pull them offline for lost items, charging and maintenance.
Elon Musk Can’t Legally Sell The Tesla Cybercab As Promised (link, no paywall).
Opinion | Minneapolis should welcome Waymo’s self-driving cars (link, no paywall).
It’s Tesla vs. Google in the fight for self-driving supremacy. Trillions are at stake (link). This is a great piece I contributed to that breaks down where Tesla and Waymo actually stand in the autonomy race. It is not a true head-to-head yet, since Waymo is running paid driverless trips while Tesla still is not fully autonomous and relies on safety monitors in Texas and safety drivers in California. The big question for Tesla’s bottom-up approach is whether the tech will fully work, and when. If it does, things could get very interesting for Waymo because Tesla already has millions of cars on the road and can build about 5,000 more per day, compared to Waymo’s entire fleet of around 2,500 vehicles.
‘Op-ed: Waymo May Finally Teach Americans the Speed Limit (link)’. Some speed limits make a lot of sense but others not so much. Most freeways in California are set at 65 mph for example, even though enforcement usually does not kick in until around 75 mph. I am good with speed limits and following the law, I just think they should mean something and be reflective of the actual speed limits. More discussion here.
The self-driving taxi revolution is here (link, no paywall).
Also from The Economist: Waymo has reportedly captured more than 10% of the San Francisco ride-sharing market (link, no paywall). My analysis actually has Waymo at over 20% of the SF ride-sharing market.
The interior of the Zeekr Mix vs the Waymo Zeekr (link).
Related: My first Zeekr ride…but I’m in China, it’s not autonomous, and it’s super luxurious (link).
Ioniq 5 Waymo at the LA Auto Show (link).
Einride Sues Maersk Over U.S. Rollout of Battery-Electric Big Rigs (link, no paywall).
‘Waymo needs to bring back the Waymo app as soon as humanly possible in Austin’ (link). The points raised here highlight why I think the hybrid model with Lyft in Nashville makes sense. Waymo can run its own first party service and charge a 30 to 40 percent premium to Uber, while using Lyft’s larger network during off peak times to keep vehicles busy.
China’s Pony AI plans to triple global robotaxi fleet by the end of 2026 (link).
‘The more I talk to folks about Waymo launching freeway service, the clearer it is that the level of achievement isn’t obvious to many…’ (link).
ULTIMATE Tesla Self Driving Obstacle Avoidance Test! (link). Here’s a more extreme follow-up test — We Tried To Crash Into A Self Driving Tesla (link).
Tesla Robotaxi Tracker monitors Tesla’s Robotaxi data across their active deployments (link).
Waymo Factory AZ November 2025 (link). If you look closely, you can see the completed cars with LiDAR on top and the non-completed cars.
What else we’re reading/listening to
I Lost My Wallet in a Waymo...and Tracked It All Night (link).
The Weird Turn Pro by
: A lot of arguments for legalizing autonomous vehicles in your city (link).It Can Think by
: Baidu and the Global Competition for Robotaxis (link).Uber, Taxis, and the Shift to AVs — Hansu Kim, Flywheel CEO (link). My latest podcast episode with Hansu Kim, who’s also a longtime SF political consultant with 20+ years of experience in transportation policy and legislation. We discussed how the Flywheel–Uber partnership actually works, and how Uber uses similar fleet-partnership frameworks to onboard autonomous vehicle companies. We also touched on how robotaxis in San Francisco are affecting Taxi demand. We also discussed where taxis could fill important gaps for AV operators, Hansu’s take on Waymo’s challenges, how driver income might change as AVs scale, and how Flywheel is preparing for that future.
Cool Rides
‘I filmed this in LA and every time I show it to friends in Paris or in Europe, they’re shocked. They don’t expect to see this kind of automotive AI already driving around’ (link).
‘81-year-olds surprised with ride in self-driving car’ (link). Here are parts two and three if you enjoyed the first one :)
‘This is my first Waymo ride, and I’m honestly so excited’ (link).
AVs/Humans behaving badly
‘Waymos in San Francisco completely clog a public street while they queue up outside an event.’ (link).
‘This is why Waymos get stuck’ (link). I always wondered what happens when a rider does not fully close the door, and it turns out Waymo hires “roadside assistance” contractors who drive around and shut doors. It would make sense for the contractors to also handle quick cleanings, light maintenance, and lost and found checks. In the video you can see the car is dirty and someone even left a Coke can inside, yet the tech is only contracted to close the door.
Backing up after front end damage (link).
Waymo Depot Overloaded in LA (link).
‘A couple days ago I saw something that really stuck with me. Two Waymos found themselves facing each other in a one lane construction zone. There was a flagger, cones, and enough space for one of the cars to move aside. But instead of pulling over or reversing out of the predicament, both vehicles kept inching forward, stopping, backing up, and trying again’ (link).
Neat Jobs
Machine Learning Engineer at Waymo (link) via David Wong.
Machine Learning Engineer Intern, Autonomy Behavior at Zoox (link) via Byungsoo Kim.
Senior Software Engineer, Planner at Waymo (link) via Jason K.
Software Engineer, AI Hardware Infrastructure at Tesla (link) via Elijah Denham.
Corporate Development Manager at Waymo (link) via Raymond Dang.
Staff People Partner at Zoox (link) via Tulasi Siddhartha.
Sr. Automation Engineer, Service Distribution at Tesla (link) via Poojesh Wagle.
Product Operations Associate, and Strategy & Business Operations | Data Analyst at Solo (link) via Bryce Bennett. Not AV related, but Solo is one of the top companies I work with, so I highly recommend this role.
You can check out our new AV job board where we post all of the roles we feature (link). If people like it, I will find a way to turn it into something a bit prettier.
AV/Mobility Events
9Zero EV/AV Meetup (December 2, San Francisco): Charging Robotaxis (link). This event will be hosted by Josie-Dee Li and Christian Brummé of Leke Services at the 9Zero Climate Innovation Hub, which looks like a cool venue. I’m also looking forward to hearing from our friend Logan Szidik at Terawatt on this timely topic.
Shout-outs
Big thanks to TDD readers Johannes H, Jacob S, and Jonas S for referring new subscribers. If there’s someone you think would enjoy TDD, just forward this email to them or use the referral button below.
Until next week.
-Harry